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Yasufumi Nekomata
|Nekomata Yasufumi}} is the Head Coach of Nekoma High's boys' volleyball club. Appearance His face is wrinkled but despite his age, he can walk around perfectly well without a hunched back or anything of the sorts. His hair is a light, blondish-gray, and he is often seen smiling. He usually wears a red jacket, a white shirt and red pants. Personality He seems to have a carefree personality as during the game against Karasuno, he made remarks about Hinata while smiling happily even though his team was losing (initially). He can also be competitive and childish, especially when it comes to Coach Ukai. After the match against Karasuno, he insulted Keishin Ukai and made jabs at his coaching skills, stating that the reason for his behavior is because Keishin resembles Ikkei Ukai, his grandfather. Background During Ikkei Ukai's time, they were both rivals and friends, and were often encouraging each other to make it to Nationals so they can have a "Battle of the Trash Heap". After a while, both coaches retired, but Coach Nekomata recently came back into work. Plot Karasuno High Team Formation Arc In the conclusion of a training camp held by Karasuno, Takeda is able to plead Coach Nekomata for an arranged practice match between Karasuno High and Nekoma High through countless calls, to which the latter eventually agrees on. Nekomata, together with Naoi, soon meets with Takeda and Keishin Ukai, his rival's grandson and the current coach of Karasuno, at the time of the practice match. Although expressing disappointment that his rival is not around, he merely states that they will not hold back. Tokyo Expedition Arc Spring High Preliminary Arc Tokyo Nationals Arc Statistics Nekomata was a capable volleyball player when he was young. In contrast to Ikkei Ukai's brute force style, Nekomata preferred to observe and use strategy in his play. He was especially skilled in receives and saved many of Ukai's spikes when their teams played against each other. Relationships Ikkei Ukai The two met when they were in their 2nd year of middle school during a volleyball match. Since then, they have been competing with each other, with both sides refusing to give up. Hoping that they would soon face each other again on district preliminaries as well as on various practice matches, Ukai declares to Nekomata that he will defeat him next time, with the latter accepting his challenge. On their last middle school tournament, it was revealed that Nekomata had transferred to a school in Tokyo, therefore breaking his promise to Ukai. Years later, as a 2nd year high school student, Nekomata meets again with Ukai in the Nationals, both belonging to different teams, Nekoma High and Karasuno High. However, they were both defeated before they could face each other and they never stood on the National level since. Both eventually became their respective teams' coaches and swore to meet at the Nationals again for four years. Keishin Ukai It has been hinted that the two met when Keishin was still in school. Nekomata has a friendly rivalry with the younger Ukai and has pointed out his similar appearance to his grandfather many times. Nekomata occasionally teases Keishin but does show to care about him and often drags him along to go drinking during the training camps. Nekoma High Nekomata has been shown to care very much for his team. He has been able to show that he can allow the players to grow in their own ways and will sometimes pair certain players to better connect if needed, as when he paired Kenma to work with Lev when the middle blocker first joined the team in the OVA-The Arrival of Lev Haiba. Nekomata knows his players well and shows great patience with many. After Nekoma's defeat at Nationals, Nekomata thanked the team for all their hard work and recieved the same from them in return. Trivia *Current Concern: when he goes out drinking with Naoi he gets smashed too quickly so it's no fun. Quotes * "The team with strong spikes doesn't win...The team that drops the ball loses, and that's what it means to 'connect'." (Season 1, Episode 13) * "Your enthusiasm will be returned in kind. If you try hard despite your awkwardness, the students will follow your lead." (To Ittetsu Takeda, Chapter 34) * "In the end, those who do not want to change will not evolve." (About Hinata, episode 4/ season 2). Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Nekoma High Volleyball Club Category:Coaches Category:Former Player